Flying target-ball



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. i

JAMES B. NICHOLS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

FLYING TARGET-BALL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 303,315, dated August 12, 1884.

- Application filed May l5, 12:84.` (No model.)

the city of Detroit, Wayne county, Michigan,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Flying Target-Balls for Trap-Shooting; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement upon the ordinary glass balls used for trapshooting. These balls admit of being used but once, and, as they are destroyed by the shot, afford no indications as to the manner in which they are struck.

The object of my invention is to provide a flying target-ball which admits of being used with economy many times, and which will show the exact number of pellets by which it was struck, and permit of a record ofthe nulnber of shot lodged in the ball by` each marksman.

Itconsists in constructing a comparatively indestructible ball for trapshooting, adapted to receive and retain the pellets'of shot, 81e., by which it may be struck, or otherwise to be so indented or marked thereby as to furnish a record thereof, and in providing` meansfor .resurfacing the ball to secure a new record thereon andwhenever a fresh Asurface maybe desired.

Figure l. is an elevation of my improved target-ball5 Fig. 2, a diametric section thereof; Fig. 3, an elevation of the ball, illustrating the same after it has been struck by shot, and of the covers prepared therefor. Fig. 4 is a diametric section illustrating amodification in the construction of the ball.

` In simplest form iny improved target-ball is constructed of a solid sphere, A, of wood soft enough to be readily indented by the shot or to permit the pellets4 to embed themselves therein, and which is covered with paper or other substance, B, permanently fixed thereto, and which may be readily indented or perforated to indicate the fact of the contact of the shot therewith, and will adlnit of being marked, so as to distinguish the shot-marks produced thereon at one time from those made at another time. In the use of .the ball it is. after ithas been thrown from the trap and fired upon, to be pick ed up and the shot-marks thereon noted and distinguished by a pencilstroke, (see Fig. 3,) or by pasting over each of them a sticker or bit of gummed paper, which may be colored to render it more apparent. The ball may then be used for asceond time as a target, and the marks produced thereon be in turn noted with a pencil, (see Fig. 3,) or by stickers of a different color to distinguish them from the previous marks. In this manner the ball may be used over again several times, and its surface will furnish a record of vthe accuracy and character of the shooting. Vhen the marks become too numerous, a fresh coatingof paper or its equivalent may be applied and fixed over the iirst, and for this purpose the paper or other material for resurfacing the ball may be furnished in segmental forms, (see B B', Fig. 3,) gummed orotherwise ready to be quickly and easily applied and fixed to the ball.

Instead of wood the solid ball may be made of leather or papier-mache, or other materials or compounds which shall be sufficiently hard and tenacious to make a solid ball and yet will allow the shot to enterwithout fracturing or destroying it.

As an equivalent for a solid ball, A, I contemplate using a hollow shell, D, of metal, (see Fig. 4,) as a core or nucleus, upon which is laid a covering, E, of a soft tenacious charactcr, and of suitable thickness, within which the shot may embed themselves, or which may be so indented thereby as to produce clearly an index ofthe number of shot by which it is struck when fired at, and this compound ball Vmay be resurfaeed, as hereinbefore described,

as often as used, or as may be requiredfby means of the ready-made covers B B'.

Although I deem a spherical ball preferable in target-shooting, myinvention is applicable to a flying target which may be eubical or otherwise polyangular in form.

I am aware that target-balls of wood have been used inclosed between two detachableV shells of paper held in place by an elastic band and charged with fulminate, which, by its explosion when hit, will detach the shells IOO and release the ball with a puff of smoke; but these balls do not register the number of shot by which they are struck, and my invention differs therefrom in that niy ball is Covered with a coveringr which, as often as renewed, becomes integral therewith, and aif'ords a *pen inanent record of the nuniber of shot which hit the ball.

I claim as iny inventionl. A target-ball for trap-shooting, eonstrueted, substantially as described, with a solid body, A, and a yieldingl covering-surface, B, permanently lixed thereto to beeoine integral therewith for the pur-pose of receiving and retaining` or otherwise indicating` the number ol' shot by which the ball may be struck.

JAMES B. NICHOLS.

\Vitnesses:

Tnno. Sentir/rn, HENRY A. SCHUL'rn. 

